Hero Electric, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Hero Group, is targeting to sell around 25,000 vehicles in the southern states during FY08-09.

The company which entered last year in the electric vehicle segment has sold around 21,000 units in the very first year of its operations. Out of which, the southern states have contributed approximately 40% of sale.

Kerala has reported sales of over 2,000 units in 2007-08 and the company is targeting sales of over 6,000 units this year.

The company also plans to increase the dealership network in south India from the current 65 to 125 by the end of 2008, to leverage the growth in the electric vehicle segment.

Currently, the vehicles are manufactured from the company's plant at Ludhiana in Punjab. The company would be investing around Rs 80 crore in this plant to boost its manufacturing capacity of electric vehicles. After the development plan is completed, the plant capacity is expected to increase from 70,000 units to 1,30,000 units.

The company, with seven Hero Electric models of two-wheelers in the market, will launch four new models including two high-speed scooters to double its sales to 70,000 vehicles in FY09, a 250 per cent increase over the previous year figure.